A Little Courage
by randamy
Summary: One-shot. Young Tai's thoughts on his little sister Kari and the incident that happened when they were kids. Tai/Kari brother/sister relationship fic.


Author's note: So, here goes! My first one shot. I had a case of nostalgia and started rewatching one of my favorite shows as a kid - Digimon! One of the things I always loved most about the series was the protective sibling relationship between Tai and Kari. For those of you who think Kari is helpless, I agree, but that's kind of what helps make Tai such a great character. Here I decided to highlight Tai's feelings about his sister and expand a little bit on the incident that happened when they were kids. Hope you enjoy!

**A Little Courage**

When they first told him about the baby, he was anything but happy.

As his parents explained to him one night after dinner, Tai would have to start sharing things like his toys, his room, and his parents' love with this new sibling that was somehow stored in his mother's stomach. It was a lot to take in for a young boy. "A few more months, and she'll be here," they chatted happily away to each other and left him sitting on the couch wide-eyed and a little confused. Maybe even a bit angry. Why did this have to happen? After all, his life was pretty good as an only child, and he wanted it to stay that way.

The remaining months had flown by, and soon enough an extremely bored Tai sat swinging his legs off of one of the plastic chairs in the hospital waiting room, staring at the floor quietly. He was waiting for his parents, who had been in the delivery room for hours already. Next to him sat his best friend Matt and Matt's father. They had accompanied the Kamiyas to the hospital to watch over Tai while the delivery took place. Matt seemed to notice the slight pout on Tai's face because he reached over and patted Tai on the shoulder lightly. "It's not so bad," Matt said, referring to being an older sibling. Matt's mother had just given birth to his little brother T.K. about a month ago, so he knew exactly what Tai was going through. Tai tried to smile, but his nerves were distracting him.

An hour later he was able to rejoin his parents. He paused in front of their hospital room door, his hand stretched out toward the handle, and swallowed the lump that rose in his throat. A million thoughts were in his head, but one reverberated the most. What if his parents liked the new baby better than him? Would they not want him anymore because they had her? 'Have a little courage, Tai,' his mother's voice floated into his mind, something she would often say to him when he got scared of something. He squared his shoulders and pushed through the door with a newfound determination to keep his status as the dominant older child over this...

...tiny little thing.

"Tai, come and meet your baby sister. Her name is Kari," his mother ushered him onto the bed with one hand while cradling Kari in the other. His father sat in a chair next to the bed stroking his wife's hair tenderly. He looked really happy. They both did. A twinge of jealousy rose inside him as he examined this new annoyance in his life. There was nothing special about her really; just a very small, very bald little human wrapped in a pink blanket. She seemed to sense him staring because her tired, hazel eyes opened to stare at him back. He jumped a little in surprise when her hand reached out in his direction. He looked from her hand to his parents, who gave him an expectant nod. Tai hesitantly obliged and Kari grasped onto his pointer finger with her chubby hand. She was strong! His mouth hung open in shock and this made Kari give a lopsided, toothless grin. Something seemed to soften inside him as he stared at that innocent face. She was smiling, just for him. He couldn't help but smile back.

Over the years, Tai's view of his sister changed completely. No longer was she the enemy in a battle for their parents' affection, but a sweet, caring child who he was proud to call his little sister. Her mellow, upbeat nature balanced Tai's aggressive and childish one. He was the only one in the family who could calm her down when she was crying and get her to smile, and in turn it made him feel important. When she outgrew her crib, she moved into Tai's room to share a bunk bed. He insisted she take the bottom bunk for fear she would fall off and hurt herself on the top. He felt like it was now his job to keep her safe. They would stay up all night and Tai would tell her stories of a fantasy world he had dreams about, one called the Digital World with friendly monsters named Digimon. He had a good imagination, and Kari enjoyed it. She would beg him for these stories until their giggling woke their mom up and she came yelling. He would fall asleep content to have her there.

One morning, after his fourth trip to the bathroom, nine-year-old Tai tiredly stepped through the hallway of his house when he heard his parents speaking in hushed tones. Curious as to what they were talking about, he quietly poked his head around the corner and listened to them in the kitchen. He could only make out bits and pieces of the conversation, but it was enough.

"Worried about her..."

"Getting worse..."

"Still so weak..."

Their tones were anxious, and that made him instantly worried. At that moment, Tai felt a familiar emotion bubbling to the surface that hadn't been there in a long time. Fear.

He knew what this was about. Ever since she was born, Kari had to visit the doctor often because there were periods of time when she would be severely sick, sometimes ending up in the hospital. She was only six. He didn't exactly understand what caused her to be sick all the time, but it had something to do with what the adults called a 'weak immune system'. She was in kindergarten in the same school that he went to, but her health caused her to be absent a lot of the time. He missed going to school together with her.

She always seemed to pull through and get better though. Because she was strong, like him. Tai once punched a fellow classmate right in the face for calling Kari a "sicko" and telling everyone to stay away from her or they would catch it too. He was scolded by the principal and sent to detention, but he didn't care. Nobody picked on his little sister. They had no idea what it was like. What it was like to be Kari, or what it was like to have to watch helplessly as she battled yet another fever. Their parents hadn't smiled in months.

Her health had improved little by little, and soon she was back to being at school full time. Unfortunately, Tai was in a different part of the building for his age group so he didn't get to see much of her until they went home for the day. Kari had been asking him to teach her soccer at the park because she knew it was his favorite sport. They would play until dinner time. She seemed stronger, healthy...

He was about to make a huge mistake.

One hot, summer afternoon, Tai walked back from school with soccer ball in hand, excited about the upcoming soccer team tryouts. He desperately wanted to make the team and that meant that he needed to practice. He hoped Kari would want to come along with him to the park, even though she had stayed home from school because of a mild fever. He unlocked the door to their apartment and found her sitting on the living room sofa, watching TV with their cat. She looked up from her cartoons and gave him a faint smile.

"Hi Tai," she greeted.

"Hey Kari, how are you feeling?" He asked and threw his backpack on the floor.

"I'm alright," she replied quietly. A small cough escaped her lips but she gave him a thumbs up.

She looked fine. She really did. Besides, he couldn't leave her alone...

Tai glanced at the soccer ball in his hands, then back up at Kari. "Want to go somewhere with me?"

The sun beat down on the two of them as they positioned themselves by the jungle gym in the park. Tai's thoughts were so focused on the soccer tryouts and practicing that he didn't notice Kari lagging behind. Or the bright pink flush on her cheeks.

"Okay, we'll start with something easy," Tai said as he expertly maneuvered the ball around his feet, "I kick it to you, you kick it back. Got it?"

Kari nodded.

Tai moved a few feet away from her and gave a light kick to pass the ball over. She stopped it with her foot and kicked it back, just as he did. He grinned and, seeing that she could handle that, kicked the ball more firmly this time. It curved a few inches to her right, so she ran over, breathing heavily, trying to send it back. It spun several feet out of the way and landed in a pile of sand. Tai gave a frustrated groan and picked it up with his hands.

"No Kari, that wasn't right at all. Do it like you did bef-"

The words got stuck in his throat.

Kari had collapsed face first onto the pavement, her tiny hands shaking and her lungs heaving with exertion. Time seemed to stop. Passerby in the park noticed them now, some pulled out their phones to call for help while others rushed over to Kari. Tai couldn't move. An overwhelming, paralyzing fear flooded over him and kept him grounded in place. He wanted to help her. He wanted to cry out for her, but he couldn't. His senses were overloaded with sounds of sirens, flashing red lights, and people crowded around. He dropped the soccer ball and watched them load his sister onto a stretcher into an ambulance.

A pair of hands grasped his shoulders and firmly shook him out of his funk and back to the present. He blinked a few times and stared at the police officer standing right there, a sad look in his eyes. So he had driven him to the hospital. He looked around the room full of sick people waiting to be admitted. It made him uncomfortable. He'd been in hospitals more times than he could count. Where was Kari? Was she okay?

Tai caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw a familiar face approaching. He relaxed the slightest bit.

"Mom..."

SLAP.

Shocked, Tai staggered back a few steps and put a hand to the fresh wound on his cheek. It was already turning red in the form of her handprint. He looked up into the furious gaze of his mother, tears running down her cheeks.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!?" she yelled harshly.

He could only stare at her, dumbfounded. His eyes started to water.

"You knew she was sick!" His mother continued, "How could you? My baby..."

His father stepped in and held her back from striking him again, instead he pulled her to his chest as she sobbed. Something inside Tai broke.

They waited for hours in the emergency room. Doctors came out periodically to give updates, but they said the chances didn't look good for her. She had developed something called 'pneumonia', which was life threatening to kids her age. She would need a miracle. Mrs. Kamiya looked over at her son with cold eyes that seemed to say, 'this is all your fault'.

And it was. He hated himself for it, too. The one person he wanted to protect most in the world was fighting for her life because of him. He had failed her. He felt empty, like there was no light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Matt and his father came to pick Tai up to bring him back home for the night. He couldn't sleep at all.

The next day, he sat around in agony until he got the phone call from his father at the hospital. The doctors were able to stabilize Kari overnight and bring her fever down. She would spend one more night at the hospital but after that she could go home. Tai slumped against the wall and down to the floor, and let out a wail of relief. Only one thing mattered.

Kari's okay...she's gonna be okay...

When they brought her home she was carefully cradled over their father's shoulder. She look tired, but her coloring had gone back to normal. He started to carry Kari to her bed but she looked up from his shoulder to Tai and spoke.

Her next words broke his heart.

"I'm sorry I can't kick the ball right, Tai," she said sadly. "I guess you'll never want to play with me again."

Tai started to cry.

That was her. That was Kari. Selfless, kind, pure Kari. She cared about everyone else before herself, even if it meant her own feelings got neglected. She never thought about what she wanted, as long as she could make someone else happy. That kind of fragile innocence needed to be protected.

Tai wiped his tears off on his sleeve, a determined look on his face. He rummaged around the cabinets until he found his favorite pair of blue and white goggles, and snapped them onto his head of thick, brown hair. He thought of Kari, asleep in their room, and silently promised her that he would never let her get hurt again.

He was her big brother.

He would protect her no matter what.

He just needed a little courage.

END

Feel free to let me know what you think!


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